One Day
by JivinFool
Summary: Takes place around the beginning of season 5. The start of Amelia's downward spiral. Sorry had to re-do the whole story.
1. Chapter 1

Amelia sits at her desk. Feeling incredibly stressed and empty, she stands up. Her thoughts are running rampant and she cannot concentrate on any work. "God, I can really use a drink or two" she thought to herself.

As she is rubbing her temples and carefully contemplating leaving the practice and hitting the nearest bar, her thoughts are rudely interrupted as Pete walks in.

"Amelia, you okay?" He asks.

"Fine. What's up?" She replies. Although she may think she doesn't sound annoyed, it's pretty clear she does.

"I was talking to Violet earlier and she said you seemed really distracted earlier. I know we aren't the closest, but I was just wondering if everything was okay."

"Pete, everything is fine. Your wife makes things up constantly to create unnecessary conflict. She creates it so she can swoop in and solve it. It's pretty sickening. Tell her I said that and please leave me alone. I'm having a bad day and Charlotte is still convinced that I am drinking again. I can't operate nor drink. I'm miserable. Freakin' miserable. Now if you could please leave that would be great."

Pete stands there for a couple seconds in silence and leaves. Although Pete and Amelia don't have a solid relationship, Pete still cares for her. He knows if he pushes her or fights back it will only make things worse.

Amelia feels bad for what she said for about a millisecond, but decides to forget it. She sits back down on the computer and starts clicking away. About ten seconds pass when she ultimately surrenders to her workday. She gets up from her desk, turns her computer off, grabs her purse, and leaves her office.

As she is scurrying out of her office and heading towards the elevators, she sees Charlotte coming towards her.

"Where you think you're going?"

"Out. Lunch. Perhaps a burger? Or a salad? Maybe a sandwich. I don't know, Charlotte."

"That attitude doesn't help your case, you know that right? Being harsh and defiant isn't helpin' ya."

"Really Charlotte? Are we seriously going to do this? I feel like I'm in high school again. I'm a grown woman; I do not have to tell you where I am going every second of the day. Now excuse me, I am going to lunch."


	2. Chapter 2

Amelia is driving. She is driving nowhere. Anywhere. Everywhere. All she can think about is how empty she feels. The hopelessness she is feeling is depleting all of her energy. Once again, depression has come upon her. She used to deal with depression by diving into work. If she ever felt sad, she would always try to find something productive to do. But now, temptation has struck. Work just was not enough.

She goes to the deli down the street and orders a salad. She can barely eat it. She has no appetite. She looks around the deli and sees someone familiar in the corner of her eye.

"Chase! How are you?"

"Amelia? Amelia Shepherd? Holy crap! How are you, little shep?" This handsome, tall, brown hair, blue eyed, man says as he walks over.

"Don't call me that. You know how much I despise that nickname."

"Sorry. How are you, Amelia? How's the work? Still doing your fellowship?"

"Naw, actually I am a neurosurgeon over at St. Ambrose Hospital. It's pretty cool. I'm pretty badass."

"Ha, well that's awesome to hear." He replies as he sits down.

"Yeeeeeah. So how are you, Chase?"

"Good, good. Kind of dropped off the map for a while. Never really adjusted to life outside of Europe."

Amelia and Chase went to medical school together. Chase couldn't stand the pressure. He basically dropped out and went to Europe. They haven't seen each other in years. Amelia felt this overwhelming sense of happiness seeing him. Chase and Amelia used to have a lot of fun together. They would spend hours talking and talking. Chase was a party animal—he liked to go out and drink and do all sorts of drugs—a luxury Amelia didn't have due to her sobriety.

"Well, it takes time. For sure. But listen, I better get back to work. My boss has been breathing down my neck. Call me sometime though. It's nice to have a familiar face around." She replies as she gets up.

"Definitely. It was really good seeing you." He says while getting up to give her a huge.

They exchange numbers and Amelia leaves the deli. She begins to—reluctantly—make her way back to work.


	3. Chapter 3

Amelia arrives back at the practice. Of course, she's a little late. Whether it is five minutes or twenty minutes, it didn't matter, she knew Charlotte was going to give her trouble. Amelia always felt like she was connected to Charlotte. Now, she wants to totally detach herself from her, and everyone else for that matter. To Amelia, Charlotte is now just her annoying boss.

Amelia manages to sneak into her office and turn her computer on and get back to work without bumping into the wicked witch. About ten minutes pass when she hears a knock on her door. Crap.

"Come in" she says without looking up. She assumes it is Charlotte and already has words ready to fire at her. She is mentally prepared to take her on.

"Hey, you" Addison says.

"Oh, hey, Addie. What's up?"

"Nothing. Just wanted to see if you wanted to grab dinner tonight. Sam will be at the hospital until a little later and, well, I don't know I feel like we should catch up."

As soon as she hears the words of an invitation she scrambles for an excuse. Work? No, that wouldn't work. Addison would know it was a poor excuse. Date? No, she would want the details. Tired? Since when is Amelia too tired to grab dinner with her ex sister-in-law?

"Aw, Sam's busy and you don't want to have dinner alone!" she replied with a smile. "That sounds good, but I can't tonight. My friend wants to take me to this new restaurant. Apparently, they have the best steak in town. Maybe tomorrow night?"

"Yeah, tomorrow is good. Everything okay with you? I'm just a little—con"

Amelia cut her off right away. Don't be. Please Addison, you have a lot going on in your life I would hate to see you worrying about me when there is absolutely no reason to. How are you and Sam doing anyway?"

"We're actually really good. Taking it each day at a time."

"An addict's attitude. I love it."

"Yeah. It's been a little hard, but nothing we can't deal with."

"Well I'm happy to hear. I got to get back to this though."

"Of course." She replies as she heads for the door. "Amelia, are you sure you're fine? I mean I'm not the closet with Charlotte but I don't understand why she would revoke your surgical privileges on a hunch."

"Charlotte revoked my surgical privileges because she is crazy. She watches me like a hawk. I don't like being watched like a hawk, Addison. In fact, I feel like I'm living with my mother when I'm in that damn hospital with her. So I do some charts sloppy and I have a few bad days. You have bad days. Cooper, her freakin' husband, has bad days. I'm pretty sure Pete has a few bad days. I mean if I was married to Violent I would have several bad days. She is so critical with me."

"Wow. Well don't hold back. But you didn't really answer me."

"Addison, I really don't feel the need to. You don't understand, that's fine. No one asked you to understand."

"You're right. Sorry. I'll let you get back to it. But, please, remember I'm always here to talk."

As Addison leaves, Amelia begins to think again. She gets a little paranoid. It would be unfortunate if Charlotte convinces everyone that she's drinking again. She rationalizes her behavior and decides, "you know, if people think I'm drinking again, I may as well just drink." Stupid rationalization, but it comforts her. Alleviates her stress a lot. It's stupid thinking for such a smart woman. But it helps. She finally sees that light at the end of the tunnel. The light, however, is at a bar. She finishes up the little work she started earlier and shuts down shop. It's barely two o'clock when she decides to leave. She knows Charlotte is at the hospital, so she is in the clear to make her exit for the day.


	4. Chapter 4

Amelia arrives to an empty bar. She has no problem with this, she rather it be empty. "Vodka tonic, please" she asks the bartender. As she sits down at the bar and awaits her drink she pulls out her phone and goes to her contact list. She goes down to Chase and sends him a text that reads: "Afternoon drink?"

She closes her phone just in time as her drink is served to her. She takes a sip and relief is upon her. She takes another sip. She eventually gulps down the rest of her drink.

A couple hours pass and Amelia is feeling pretty damn good. It's about five o'clock and the bar is becoming more and more crowded. She checks her phone. Two missed calls from Charlotte and a text from Chase that says: "I love afternoon drinking. Text me the address, little shep." She smiles and picks up the phone to call him.

"Hey. So it's not so much afternoon anymore, but do you still want to join me for a drink?"

"Ha. Of course. Where is this place?"

"I'll text you the address. Just wanted to make sure you were still there. Sorry I didn't get back to you. I was busy afternoon drinking. Looking forward to some evening drinking with you."

Chase arrived about forty five minutes later to see Amelia talking to a bunch a people. He spots her and smiles. He approaches her and says, "hey miss popularity… do you make friends everywhere you go?"

"When I'm drinking I make tons of friends. Why did I ever get sober?"

"Beats me. Well, it seems I have a lot of catching up to do to be on your level."

"Oh, you have a lot of catching up to do."

Chase and Amelia drink and chat until nine o'clock. Amelia is bored with the bar and extremely intoxicated.

"So, I'm bored and I'm ready to go home. What do you say, Chase? Want to spend the night?"

"Gladly."

Amelia and Chase arrive back at Amelia's place with giggles. She sees the light on in her place and forgets that Addison is probably there since Sam is busy tonight. This wasn't going to be good.

"Oh damnit. My sister-in-law is home. Let's be cool."

"What are you in high school again? I love Addison."

Amelia totally forgot that Chase and Addison knew each other. Well this works out perfectly. Chase is the friend that Amelia was going out to dinner with and Addison would be so happy to see Chase, she might overlook the fact that they were drunk.

"Adddddddisssson. Look who I have—Chase! Remember him!" Amelia blurts out as they walk in.

"Oh my God! Chase! Amelia, why didn't you were having dinner with him tonight? Chase, how are you? It's been years! I thought you were still in Europe."

As Addison and Chase share a hug he replies, "Nope, back in the states. I'm doing really well. How are you?"

"Good. Good. It's really nice to see you, Chase."

"Always good to see you Addison. Amelia, where is the bathroom?"

Amelia shows him the bathroom then comes back out to Addison. "He got pretty hot, don't you think?"

"Wow, yeah, he looks good. Why didn't you tell me this was the friend you were meeting with tonight?"

"I don't know. Slipped my mind. I forgot you guys knew each other. Sam still at the hospital?"

"Yes. But I know what you're really asking. I will go over to Sam's and wait for him there. Have fun tonight" she replies with a smile. Addison leaves and Amelia goes upstairs to find Chase looking around.

"This place is really nice, Amelia. Good for you. You seem like you're doing well with life. I'm a bit jealous. Wish I had a place like this to call my home."

"It gets boring… trust me. Now I'm not really in the mood for talking."

Amelia and Chase meet at the lips and start to heavily make out. Amelia is feeling really good. The best she has felt in a while.


	5. Chapter 5

The sun is blazing through the window as Amelia wakes up. She turns over and checks her phone. Nine missed calls. Charlotte, Addison, and Cooper, too. My God, what the hell do they want? She closes her phone and gets up—trying very hard to be quiet so she doesn't wake Chase. She manages to delicately arise from the bed and heads to the bathroom.

"Charlotte. What's up? You called?"

"Amelia, where the hell are you? It's eleven o'clock. You aren't doing a good job of proving to me you're ready to get back in the OR. This is ridiculous, Amelia."

"Charlotte… chill out… would ya? Try to understand that there's not much for me at the practice. I can't concentrate on any work. And I don't need to PROVE anything to you, Charlotte. You want to revoke my surgical privileges? Fine. But don't expect me to follow you around the hospital like a dog getting his nose hit by a newspaper."

"What the hell are you talking about? I don't expect you to follow me around—I expect you to try and show me you're taking your sobriety seriously and—"

Amelia cuts her off. "Charlotte, please, leave me alone. I can't do this with you every day."

"I don't expect you to."

"You have a lot of expectations, don't ya?"

"Because I know you're better than this, Amelia. I don't know what is goin' on with ya, I just need you to you show me you're handlin' everything okay. Now get your butt to the hospital, I need a consult."

Amelia doesn't feel anything. She doesn't feel excitement or happiness. Charlotte seems willing to finally give her a chance, and she doesn't want anything to do with it. She figures she will go, though. She doesn't know what she's going to do with Chase all day, so it's a good excuse to cut out.

"I'll be there. Bye." She says as she hangs up the phone. She goes over to the bed where Chase is passed out. She pokes him a few times but he is not budging. "Psssst… Chase… get up." Nothing. He is dead asleep. She says in a louder tone, "Chase. Get up. I got to get to work."

"Huh? Oh. Sorry. Sure. I'll get out of your way." Replying by rubbing his eyes.

"Thanks. So about last night…"

"What about it? You're amazing, by the way."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was hoping we can kind of forget about what happened last night. Or, better yet, keep it to ourselves?"

"That's cool. So, you're back in the OR today?"

"Huh?"

"Yeah, last night you were saying you weren't going back to work unless you were going to cut. You're so lucky. Sometimes I wish I would have just gone through with medical school."

"Oh. Yeah. Operating today."

"Well, that's great Amelia. Things seem to be working out."

Amelia doesn't remember discussing work last night at all. She is going through her memory trying to remember when this conversation took place.

"Yeah. I guess." Amelia is in no mood to open up to Chase. She wants him gone. Just like every other one night stand she has had in the past.

"Let me use the bathroom and get out of your hair."

"Ha. Thanks."

As Chase heads towards the bathroom, Amelia begins to get ready for work. "I can really use a pick me up" she thought to herself while going through her closet.

"Well, it's been real, little shep" Chase says as he comes out of the bathroom. "Can we do it again sometime? You're a good time."

"Yeah, last night was a lot of fun. It was nice to cut loose."

"Want to really cut loose?" he says while going through his pockets.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean oxy."

Amelia knows that this isn't a good idea immediately. Oxycodone is not a good idea. However, she can't help but think about how tolerable work would be if she does show up high. She can't help but be intrigued by the idea.

"I'll give it a try."

"Good. I'll go crush it up. It's better that way."

Amelia gets back into bed to await Chase. She feels this overwhelming joy and excitement. When Chase comes back, he lets Amelia sniff the first line. Amelia's thoughts slowly fall away. She is in bliss. Her troubles are vanishing with each passing second. She is finally feeling that sense of happiness she has been trying to create for days now.


	6. Chapter 6

Charlotte makes her way down the hall of the hospital. She spots Addison and approaches her. "Have you seen Amelia today?"

"Nope. I saw her last night though… she was with an old friend she used to know from med school."

"Oh."

"What's up?"

"I needed Amelia to come in for a consult and she hasn't showed yet. I'm thinkin' she's blown me off."

"I wouldn't worry about it. If you gave her an opportunity to come in for a consult she wouldn't miss it. She probably is just—"

Charlotte cuts her off. "Just what? There's no excuse at this point."

"Well, I know she hasn't seen this friend of hers in a while. So I'm sure she's carried away catching up and what not."

"Yeah."

"I must be off though. If I see Amelia I'll tell her you've been looking for her."

Addison is walking away and Charlotte says under her breath, "you ain't gunna see her."

"See who?"

"Oh, hey, Coop."

"Hey you. How's your day?" he says after a kiss.

"I've had better."

"Aw. Want to grab lunch?"

"Sure. Let me take care of a few things. I'll meet you over at the practice in twenty."

"Sounds good." They kiss good-bye and Charlotte makes her way to her office. "What am I going to do with you Amelia" she thinks as she pulls out her phone. No missed calls. No texts. Charlotte is totally consumed with Amelia. She feels something is off. She doesn't know what that something is, but she is going to figure it out. "She's in for a rude awakening" she says as she is dialing Amelia's number. No answer. No nothing. She decides at the very least she'll leave a voicemail. Perhaps take a softer route. "Amelia. It's Charlotte. Again. Missed ya this morning. Look I don't know what's going on but I think we need to go to a meetin'. Or two. Please call me."


	7. Chapter 7

Amelia finally snaps back to reality around three o'clock. She has two choices: one, to blow off work completely—it's already so late in the day; there would be no point to show. Or, two, make an appearance. This would benefit her in more ways than one. Not only would she give peace of mind to Charlotte but she would also gain back her respect. However, Amelia doesn't really care about the respect part. She wants to get Charlotte off her back once and for all. Showing up would at least help her case _a little._ She also has a third choice—take another pill and continue on her path of euphoria.

"I should probably go to work" Amelia randomly blurts out.

"Yeah," replies Chase, "You should. I guess."

Amelia gets out of bed and heads to the bathroom to get ready for work.

She gracefully kicks Chase out of bed and gathers all her things. "Well, good-bye for real this time." She says with a laugh.

"Anything I can do to get you to not go in?"

"I wish. But I really need to make an appearance."

"Sure, sure. Call me later if you want."

Chase walks Amelia out and opens her car door. "You really are beautiful."

Amelia is slightly embarrassed and replies with a giggle, "I'll call ya later."

Amelia walks in the hospital and immediately spots Addison. "Hey Addie. Have you seen Charlotte? She's not in her office or at the practice."

"I saw her earlier. She was looking for you. But haven't seen her since. Where you been all day?"

"I was catching up with Chase all afternoon. I lost track of time."

"How was that?"

"Good. It was really nice to see him. I should probably go find Charlotte. I'll talk to you later."

Amelia is hoping that Addison doesn't realize she's itching to leave the conversation. It's not that Amelia doesn't want to talk to Addison, she really wants to find Charlotte then get back home. She already has a plan in her mind to call Chase back. She likes Chase. Or maybe she likes the oxycodone. Who cares?

She finally spots Charlotte at the nurses' station. She takes a deep breath then approaches her. "Hey. Sorry it took so long to come in. I met up with an old friend last night and lost track of time and—"

Charlotte interrupts her. "There's really no excuse to blow off work. Even if you were "catching up" with an old friend. Do you think I'm an idiot, Amelia? I know the signs and blowing off work like you did today isn't a good one."

"I said I was sorry. I don't know what else you want me to say, Charlotte."

"I want you to show me you're sorry. I want you to show me you're serious. I'm tired of doing this with you Amelia. It's becoming redundant."

"You think I like doing this? You think I want you breathing down my neck? You think I'm skipping work to watch you squirm?"

"No, I think you're being selfish."

"Right. Coming from the person who told me I couldn't operate because you have a sneaking suspicion I'm drinking again. Would you be acting like this to anyone else? Why me? Because you're an addict, too? I don't know, Charlotte, I find it unfair."

"Understandable. I can see where you're coming from. Can you see where I'm coming from?"

"No. I don't."

"That's unfortunate."

"Yeah. Well, do you still need a consult or what?"

"No. I needed a consult earlier today. There's nothing else here for ya. Go home, Amelia. Get some sleep. You look tired. Enjoy your weekend and your old friend. Take the weekend off. I'll see you Monday."

"Monday? So now you're forcing me to take the weekend off?"

"Not forcin', tellin'. Suggesting' even."

"Riggghhhht. I'll see ya later, Charlotte."

Amelia walks away and heads out of the hospital. She should have opted to stay in bed all day. Anything would have been better than seeing Charlotte. Now she's getting a little paranoid. What was she supposed to do ALL weekend? Maybe Charlotte is testing her. Maybe Charlotte wants Amelia to come in this weekend. Or maybe she was serious? It is hurting her to think so much. She wants to escape her mind. How? How can she free herself from this trapped cycle her mind is in? She gets in the car, pulls out her phone and calls Chase.

"Hey, you. So work sucks. Nothing here for me. What are you doing?"

"I'm in my hotel room. I was kicked out of bed by a beautiful girl this afternoon, I'm just getting home now."

She laughs and says, "What hotel are you staying at? Want some company?"

"I would love that." He replies.


	8. Chapter 8

Amelia arrives to Chase's hotel room. It's a little dungy but all in all it's a pretty good room. Any eye can see that it's definitely been partied in. Amelia doesn't care. She's too distracted by his body. After opening the door for her, shirtless and all, he sits on the bed and grabs a bag of pills. He pulls four out. "This is the last of my stash, little shep."

"Damnit." She replies. She isn't going to let this ruin her future high, though. "Let's just enjoy it, okay?"

"Live for today, party tonight, plan for tomorrow?"

"Love it."

Amelia joins Chase on the bed. She doesn't think of the repercussions this drug will have on her body. She doesn't care. She just wants to take the drug and relax. Something she cannot do on her own. She realizes she's going down a dark road, but she's not going to let this realization control the present. Chase gets the pills ready for them and Amelia decides to turn her phone off. "Charlotte DID say to take the weekend off" she thinks to herself.

The first line hit her like a ton of bricks. No, she wants more. One more line.

Chase and Amelia lay in that hotel room for nearly two hours. The high is wearing off. Crap. She doesn't like this. There's one more pill left and she suggests to Chase that they share the final one.

"I must really like you to split the last of my stash" he says jokingly.

"You're forgetting something very important. I'm a doctor. I got a freaking prescription pad."

"Why did I not think of that! Holy crap."

"Yeah, hold on." Amelia gets up from the bed and heads towards her purse. She has a feeling it's not in there but refuses to believe that. No prescription pad. Damnit. "One little problem."

"What?" Chase replies worried.

"I don't have it…. I mean I could run to the practice really quick, it's only like fifteen minutes away."

"Perfecto. Let's finish this pill first."

Amelia quickly agrees and goes back to the bed. They share the last pill and Amelia is back to the state of mind that has become all too familiar to her in the past couple days.

She cuts out about an hour later to run to the practice. She thinks it's a good idea if Chase doesn't join her, it's unnecessary. She arrives at the practice and no one is parked in the lot. She breathes a sigh of relief and hops out of her car.

The practice looks so different at night when no one is there. The liveliness is absent and Amelia is on a mission. She heads to her office and rummages around her desk for a couple seconds. She doesn't turn on the light, just in case, she doesn't want to cause any attention to the building. All of a sudden she hears the elevator ding and becomes incredibly worried. Who could that be? Who would come to the practice so late?

"Excuse me, miss." She hears a voice calling out from the hall. What the hell?

"Freeze." The voice was now at the doorway. Crap.

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><p><strong>PLEASE REVIEW! I'm not getting much feedback, starting to feel like no one is reading! Ha. Suggestions welcomed, too.<strong>


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